Bassetterre and St. Maarten - Beach umbrellas/Shade Question

[nyfeds]

For those who have cruised to Bassetterre/St. Kitts/Nevis and St. Maarten before, I have a question, please. We have signed up for two beach excursions for both these ports. I called Celebrity as well as emailed Shorex to inquire as to whether or not umbrellas could be rented to provide shade on the beach, or if there were shaded areas on or near the beach. No one could give me a definitive answer. Shorex sent me a reply pertaining to accessible shore excursions, which has nothing to do with this seemingly simple question and does not apply to us. Does anyone have an answer to this question? We love the beach, but hope there is some shade so we don't get fried!

 

Thanks!

[Mr. Click]

Yes, you can rent umbrellas. Different deal on different beaches but there is always someone there to make a buck and provide shade for you.

[nyfeds]

Thanks! So the excursion operators themselves do not provide umbrellas?

[ClaudiaB]

We've never taken a ship's excursion to the beach. If we want to go to the beach we always just walk off the ship, grab a taxi and tell him what beach to go to (having researched it before, to know which one we want). There we find a guy and rent chairs and umbrellas. Much cheaper on your own.

 

However, I've read the excursions the ship offers and my recollection is that on many of them they include what you're looking for as well as some include a drink. They ought to, it's usually a lot more than do-it-yourself.

 

It won't be a problem, however. If they do provide it, great. If they don't, find a guy.

 

Have fun.

 

And if truth be told, and you don't mind a little bit of a walk, you can walk off the ship and to the beach/town at St. Maarten. You veer right off the ship, and there is a sidewalk. Lots of people do it, we've done it. Takes 20 minutes? There is a great beach in town, right there. No need to take the water taxi although it's also available. I prefer Orient Beach though, which is a rental car or taxi drive away. You can find a non-nude area, and there are great places to have a bite to eat.

[Maligator]

My wife and I grabbed a 15-passenger taxi van in St Maarten and went to Maho Beach (the airplane beach). For US$20 at Sunset Bar, we got a big umbrella and two lounge chairs.

 

Can't speak for Orient Beach or anything on the other island. I can say our only other experience was in Curacao on a ship excursion; a 4x4 trip that included a beach stop. The cabana and chairs were not included and the ensuing dispute with the staff at that facility pretty much killed that excursion for us.

[darbs7]

In St. Marteen you can walk right off boat and over to town (5 ish minutes) or take water taxi and 2 chairs, umbrella and bucket of beer is around $25 bucks.

[Algebralovr]

Our experience in St. Martin/St Maarten was that there were lots of vendors trying to market two chairs, an umbrella and a drink for each for $15-20, but that was when we took a cab to the beach. We didn't do a beach break shore - ex because it was so much more expensive. We liked being able to leave for the beach when we wanted and come back when we wanted.

 

In St. Kitts, friends we sailed with did a beach break and weren't thrilled with it. The beaches at St. Kitts are not the same as many of the other islands.

[nyfeds]

Thanks for all the information. We will consider all options.

[marieps]

At Club Orient (should you choose the natural route) $20 gets an umbrella and two chairs.

[jb008]

I did an RCCL ShoreEx (Beach Break or some such) in St. Kitts and it was a complete rip-off (Dec '13), $45pp for the ride, a short scenic stop for pictures, 2 chairs & umbrella, 1 free (non-alcoholic) fruit punch drink pp at Cockleshell Beach. Whereas taxis were only something like $7 or 8 pp each way to Cockleshell Beach and an umbrella and pair of chairs on the beach was $15 (Dec '13).

 

Here's a pic I took of both a website and pricing a little over a year ago.

 

And a picture from the beach:

 

St. Maarten, I would recommend taking the water taxi for something like $11 pp unlimited rides, head over to town and find a package deal of chairs, beers, and umbrellas. Maho Beach is great for airplane watching, but unless that's what you really want it isn't worth it imho. It was very crowded, and was pretty rough for wading/swimming. If you have the unlimited water taxi you could even shop/lounge in the AM and then go back to the ship to drop off stuff, grab lunch, head back out for a few hours doing the opposite shop/lounge. I find the water taxi ride to be quite fun by itself.

Edited February 4, 2015 by jb008

[marie61]

Thanks! So the excursion operators themselves do not provide umbrellas?

 

Read the description of the excursion carefully...it always makes it clear whether chairs are included. I've seen it both ways!

[jb008]

If you want to do more investigation into a specific port, there are specific sub-areas for ports (Caribbean list: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587) where you'll find more detailed information around the specific beaches, independent tours, etc...

 

I continue to become more jaded about cost effectiveness of many of the cruise lines' shore excursions. I've consistently been pleased with the independent tours that have good reviews here and on other "trip advisement" review sites, and I feel like more money stays in their hands when I book directly through them.

 

With respect to St. Kitts, DW and I loved Cockleshell Beach, and will likely go back the next time we're in St. Kitts - and more than likely will save some money and go independently instead of w/a Shore Ex trip.

 

Here's an excerpt from my Jewel trip report from Dec '13.

Day 4- St. Kitts:

We made the mistake of doing the Beach Extravaganza excursion ($45/pp) - a complete ripoff! They loaded us into air-conditioned vans and headed for Cockleshell beach. Stopped for ~20 minutes at the overlook showing where the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas meet, and had the opportunity to get pictures with a monkey or a mule dressed up for Christmas, then finally continued on to the beach. The excursion included 2 glasses of fruit punch and 2 chairs, but an umbrella was extra. For the return we waited on the bus ~20 minutes for one missing couple. End result being that we only spent a few hours at the beach, and overpaid by about 2x.

 

For comparison, a stand on the beach was offering 2 Chairs w/Umbrella for $15.00, and the shared taxi ride from the beach back to the ship was $7.00 pp (presumably comparable rate to get from ship to beach). There were plenty of taxis idling and looking for riders as they headed back to the pier (more people per van the more the taxi driver makes, so they're very happy to have you along). The views from the beach were of a dormant volcano and the beach was quite nice - probably too rough for snorkeling, but not at all crowded and a nice spot to sunbathe and go for a swim.

 

I should add though, if you've never been to St. Kitts before, the island feature some very nice volcanic geology and extensive rain forests. I'd encourage visitors to consider a proper tour or rainforest hike there over a beach day.

[wallie5446]

On the Boardwalk beach at Great Bay, it can get a tad crowded.

[nyfeds]

Thanks for the great insight and suggestions!

[jb008]

On the Boardwalk beach at Great Bay, it can get a tad crowded.

 

The further down you walk, the better than chances you have of less crowding and better deals (also less people using the wifi).

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook on your ports....so much info about beaches! You do NOT need an excursion for a beach day! Or, for shopping! So easy on your own, with info...read up on your ports...and have a great day!